COTS MEMS Technology Assessment (new for FY04)

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COTS MEMS Technology Assessment(new for FY04)
Description
Benefits

Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS)
Micro-Electromechanical (MEM) devices provide a
smaller, cheaper alternative to conventional
sensors. Reduced package mass and volume allows
sensor arrays to be embedded more densely and in
tighter locations. Cheaper not only means a
lower implementation cost, but entire sensor
solutions could be classified throwaway. This
study compares and contrasts MEMS technical
solutions with their conventional counterparts.
Wind tunnel testing using MEMS accelerometers
and gyroscopes will be discussed. Benefits and
determents of cost, size, bandwidth, and science
accuracy of several COTS MEMS sensor types will
be explored.
COTS MEMS solutions seem ideal for a wide range
of technical issues, but drawbacks seem to
include fabrication costs, power requirements,
and size of supporting PCBs. This study will aid
in the development of cheap, tiny sensors for
flight experiments, wind tunnel measurements,
etc. and acts as a basis for future COTS MEMS
research.
Deliverables

• Survey of available MEMS technologies and their
  non-MEMS counterparts
• Survey of technical evaluation of MEMS devices
  and their non-MEMS counterparts

Schedule/Costs
Risks
Total ROM Cost (non-CS) 55K
Red, Yellow, or Green
CS FTEs 0.1

Lead Center/PI LaRC 55K/0.1